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Steelers Browns Predictions

Written September 12, 2008 by Jack Jones

Jeff Alexander previews the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Cleveland Browns Sunday Night Football game on NBC to see which one of these AFC North rivals is going to come out on top. The early line at Bookmaker shows the Steelers as 6-point favorites over the Browns with the total coming in at 44.5.

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The Browns were supposed to have the talent this year to contend with the Steelers for the AFC North title, but already after Week 1 skeptics have written Cleveland off and already handed Pittsburgh the division once again. However, the Browns can get back on track with a win over their division foes on Sunday night.

The reason fans had so much hope coming into the season was the quick turnaround Romeo Crennel’s club achieved in 2007, winning 10 games and only missing out on the playoffs due to losing both games to Pittsburgh and thus giving them the tiebreaker.

Last week though the team struggled to live up to the expectations as they were blown out at home 28-10 by the Dallas Cowboys. The loss was even more surprising since the team went 7-1 at Cleveland Browns Stadium a year ago, but that sole loss did come against this week’s opponent in the Steelers.

The upgrades the team had made on defense didn’t look like much of an improvement in giving up 487 total yards and 30 first downs, allowing Dallas to convert eight of their 11 third down attempts. The run defense was supposed to be better with Shaun Rogers and Corey Williams holding down the tackle spots, but the Cowboys still rolled to 167 yards on 31 rushing attempts. The pass defense wasn’t much better either with young, inexperienced corners in Eric Wright and Brandon McDonald struggling to stop Terrell Owens and Patrick Crayton. It isn’t going to get much easier this week as the Steelers are deep at wideout.

The offense wasn’t much better as the Browns managed just 205 yards, with quarterback Derek Anderson completing 11-for-24 for less than 50% and 114 yards. Anderson never could find a rhythm last week, but you have to place some of the blame on his receivers. Joe Jurevicius and Donte Stallworth were out with injuries, and even though Braylon Edwards played, he dropped more passes than he caught. Tight end Kellen Winslow did catch five passes and one for a touchdown. Since Dallas jumped out to such a big lead, the Browns didn’t really give the ball to running back Jamal Lewis that much. He got 13 carries for 62 yards, unable to wear down his foe in the 4th quarter like his MO calls for. If you think Cleveland will get back on track, bet the Browns +6 at Sportsbook.com and use your credit or debit card to make an instant deposit.

Pittsburgh didn’t waste any time in making a statement that they are ready to rise to the top of the AFC once again. Pittsburgh scored touchdowns on their first three possessions to beat up the Houston Texans, 38-17 in front of the home crowd.

The offense was led by the ground game, which piled on 183 yards rushing, 138 of which came from Willie Parker. Parker picked up 92 of those yards in the second half and he also danced into the end zone three times. Ben Roethlisberger was near perfect for the passing game too, going 13-of-14 for 137 yards and two touchdowns, both of which went to Hines Ward. Ward ended up with six catches for 76 yards while Santonio Holmes and Heath Miller were both rather quiet simply because they weren’t needed. The Steelers odds are -6 at JustBet, where you can get a 20% cash bonus on your first deposit.

Pittsburgh has owned Crennel the last three years, winning all six times against the Browns head coach.

Predictions: Steelers 25, Browns 19

Everything Pittsburgh agrees with our predictions, but they think it’ll be an even bigger difference in the final score.

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